Getting started

ANTS Profiler enables you to profile the code of applications written in any of the languages available for the .NET Framework, including Visual Basic .NET, C#, and Managed C++.

This is useful, for example, to optimize performance. ANTS Profiler identifies inefficient areas of your application by recording the time spent in each line of your code or method as you run your application. ANTS Profiler also enables you to improve memory usage by identifying the objects and classes that use most memory, and objects that remain live the longest.

You can use ANTS Profiler to profile .NET desktop applications, ASP.NET web applications hosted in Internet Information Services (IIS) or the ASP.NET Development Server, .NET Windows services, and COM+ server applications. In addition, you can profile applications that host the .NET Runtime, for example Visual Studio .NET plug-ins.

You can use ANTS Profiler with the following versions of the .NET Framework:

• 1.1 (32-bit applications only)
• 2.0 (32-bit or 64-bit applications)
• 3.0 (32-bit or 64-bit applications)
• 3.5 (32-bit or 64-bit applications)

The performance and memory profiling components of ANTS Profiler are provided as separate applications (ANTS Performance Profiler and ANTS Memory Profiler). Each application is accessible from the Start menu.

ANTS Performance Profiler: step-by-step

1. Set up a new profiling session, and start profiling.
2. Optionally, select a region on the time line to restrict the profiling results to a specific period.
3. Review the profiling results.

ANTS Memory Profiler: step-by-step

1. Use the Profiler Project Wizard to specify the details of the application that you want to profile.
2. Use the toolbar buttons to start profiling, take snapshots, and force garbage collection as required.
3. Review the profiling results using the summary, all objects, all classes, and call stack panels.

Worked examples

Learn more about performance and memory profiling with ANTS Profiler by following one of these detailed examples:

• Worked example: profiling the performance of an application.
• Worked example: profiling the memory of an application.

Getting more information

• You can display hints for some features and options in the interface by clicking
• What's new in this version of ANTS Profiler?
• Find out about activating ANTS Profiler.
• How can I check for updates to ANTS Profiler?
• Find out more about Red Gate.